Delray Beach May Sue Big Pharma For Overdose Epidemic!

The opioid epidemic plaguing Palm Beach County has its greatest concentration of problems in the city of Delray Beach, but Mayor Cary Glickstein has a novel way to begin addressing them.

That novel way is the American way: Take it to court.

Glickstein proposed suing the big pharmaceutical companies that produce painkillers like Oxycontin—often seen as a gateway to heroin—for deceptive marketing.

It may seem frivolous, but states like Mississippi and Ohio have already done the same thing.

“It’s part of turning the screws in doing what we can to not see the next generation of addicts,” Glickstein explained at a city meeting.

The mayor hopes to recoup some of the costs that the city incurs from overdoses, each of which can be as much $2,000.

Considering that other jurisdictions have found success with the move—and that, as Glickstein pointed out to city commissioners, the lawsuit would carry no costs to the city unless they won—it certainly seems to fall under the “worth a try” category.